LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Chap.- ._ Copyright Xo. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 







1 




Anindian Giver 

A COMEDY 

By W. D, Ilowells 




BOSTON AND NEW YORK 

Houghton^ Mifflin and 
Company m d ^ c c c 









6835G 



COPYRIGHT, 1896, BY HARPER & BROTHERS 

COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY W. D. HOWELLS 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



34686 



Libpapy of Gonarcse 

Two Copies :^fc:ec ed 
AUG 151900 

Copyright ^try 

SECOND COPY. 

Oeiiverftd to 

ORDER DIVISION, 

Alia 22 1900 



0-^ 



An Indian Giver 

A COMEDY 
I 

MRS. LILLIAN INGLEHART AND MISS 
ROBERTA LAWRENCE 

Mrs. Inglehart: "My dear! I will 
not hear another word. He is yours I 
The idea of making such a fuss about a 
little thing like the gift of a young 
man ! " 

Miss Lawrence : " It 's only that I 
was afraid you might want him your- 
self, Mrs. Inglehart. It would make 
me unhappy if I thought you had de- 
[3] 



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prived yourself of a cousin you might 
regret. They don't grow on every bush, 
I believe." 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Such as Jim don't, 
I'll admit. But I hope I know the 
duties of a hostess, and the first of them 
is to get a young lady visitor engaged if 
possible. You 've never seen Jim, have 

you?" 

Miss Lawrence : " Never. What 's 
he like ? " 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Are you very fond 
of tall men?" 

Miss Laiorence : "Is he tall ? " 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Not so very. I 
should say he had more breadth and 
thickness than length." 

Miss Lawrence : " Oh, I like them 
broad and thick." 

[4] 



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Mrs. Inglehart: "Do you?" She 
speaks with a certain intonation of mis- 
giving, and then she has the effect of 
pulling herself together : " Do you like 
them brown-complexioned and dark- 
eyed?" 

Miss Lawrence : "Is he brown-com- 
plexioned and dark-eyed ? " 

Mrs. Inglehart : " He 's brown-com- 
plexioned and blue-eyed." 

Miss Lawrence : " Oh, that sort of 
contradiction is adorable. The blue 
eyes always have such a funny look in 
the dark face. I shall like him, I know. 
When 's he coming? " 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Any moment, 
now." 

Miss Lawrence : " Oh ! " She jumps 
to her feet. Mrs. Inglehart remains 

[5] 



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seated, but leans forward to look in 
throngli the door at the clock in the 
hall, from the veranda where, with a 
pretense of sewing in her lap, she is 
talking with her guest. To the right of 
this haU the windows of a wide drawing- 
room open to the floor, and people come 
and go through them as if they were 
doors. From the veranda, which ex- 
tends around three sides of the house, 
broad steps descend to a driveway curv- 
ing in front of it. Beyond the road 
green lawns, wept over by drooping 
white birches, slope to the red rocks 
that keep Mrs. Inglehart's place from 
the sea. 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Or not moment^ 
exactly. He promised to be here by 
the half past four, but he probably won't 

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come till the five-ten ; it 's only four 
now." 

Miss Lawrence : " Time enough to 
prink, then." She sinks back into her 
chair, provisionally. " Is Mr. Fairford 
punctilious about prinking?" 

Mrs. Liglehart : " I see you would 
dread that." 

Miss Lawrence : " I don't know that 
I should. They have to have some 
fault." 

Mrs. Iiiglehart: "And you think 
that is a fault ? " 

Miss Lawrence : "I can't say that I 
do. Do you ? " 

Mrs. Inglehart^ with an air of great 
candor : " To tell you the truth, I don't 
believe Jim cares about women's dress." 

Miss Lawrence : " Then he is the 
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most dangerous kind. He '11 not see 
anything, but lie '11 feel everything. I 
shall have to dress at his nerves." 

Mrs. IngleJiart : " It 's clear that 
you 've made your observations, my 
dear." 

Miss Lawrence : " By twenty-six, 
one has." 

Mrs. Inglehart : " I should never 
have dreamt twenty-six." 

Miss Lawrence : " I have n't dreamt 
it myself. In my dreams I 'm still six- 
teen. It 's only in my waking moments 
that I 'm twenty-six." 

3£rs. Inglehart, thoughtfully : " You 
have courage." 

Miss Lawrence ; " I have conviction. 
It 's best to be honest — unless the man 
prefers lies." 

[8] 



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Mrs. Inglehart : " Don't they all ? " 

Miss Lawrence : " Nearly all. But 
if Mr. Fairford should happen to be the 
exception that does n't, will you please 
tell him I owned to twenty-six, but you 
don't know how much older I really 
am?" 

Mrs. Inglehart^ with open admiration 
and covert alarm : " You 're a strange 
girl!" 

Miss Lawrence: "Will that scare 
him ? Should you advise me to be less 
strange ? " 

Mrs. Inglehart^ with a sigh : " No ; 
he will like you so." 

Miss Lawrence^ laughing : " What 
despair ! Poor Mrs. Inglehart ! You 're 
sorry already you gave him to me ! 
Well, you may have him back." 

[9] 



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Mrs, Inglehart^ with noble constancy : 
" No, no ; you 're the very one for him." 

Miss Lawrence : " Then our only 
hope is that he is n't the one for me." 

Mrs. Inglehart : " You think I 'm 
not in earnest. Well, then, the only 
thing left is to convince you by prac- 
tical"— 

Miss Lawrence : " Demonstration ? 
I don't see how it can be done. You 
can't pass this yoimg man along to 
me without consulting his inclinations. 
Has he very decided inclinations ? " 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Yes, he has. That 
was the trouble, I suppose." 

Miss Lawrence : " So there was 
trouble." She smiles intelligently. 

M7'S. Inglehart: "It was a great 
while ago. It was before I was — - there 
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was any — Mrs. Inglehart. And there 
would be the same trouble again, if I 
were not — there were not any — Mrs. 
Inglehart. So it 's best to have it over 
before it begins." 

Miss Lawrence : "I see what you 
mean. He 's one of those terrible crea- 
tures who know their own minds; or 
think they do ; and — may I be a little 
critical of your gift ? I know it seems 
ungracious ! " 

Mrs. Inglehart: "Not in the least. 
People change their wedding-presents, 
even." 

Miss Lawrence: "I shouldn't wish 
to change the present ; only the name : 
Jim! If it were only Jack, now, I 
should know what to do. The Jacks 
are all alike. They smoke, they flirt 

[11] 



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desperately, but they are very warm- 
hearted, and conceal a great deal of 
sentiment under the mask of cynicism 
— like Thackeray's men. They would 
do anything for you — at least any little 
thing like jumping overboard from a 
yacht to fish your hat up, or marrying 
a girl that you 've found out is in love 
with them, and you think they ought, 
though you 're dying for them yourself. 
You can twist them round your fingers ; 
but it must be different with Jims. Jim ! 
It suggests something rather grim ; per- 
haps it 's because it rhymes with it. 
Jim ! I should say one's little arts, 
one's little airs and graces, would be 
thrown away on Jim. He sounds like a 
person of convictions: he sounds like 
a person of opinions, too, and very stiff 
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ones. I suspect that Jim is serious, and 
he likes seriousness in women. He has 
ideas of home and a wife, and of being 
master in his own house. All that could 
be easily taken out of him if he were 
Jack, of course; but being Jim, it 
could n't. He 's masterful ; I feel that 
he 's masterful. He has all sorts of 
preconceived notions. He would be 
very domestic, and intellectual, and he 
would rather read to you than talk to 
you. He would want to respect you, 
and if you would n't let him, he would 
— make it hot for you. Yes, I know 
the type : adoring, domineering, devoted, 
and utterly intolerable." 

Mrs. IngleTiart^ who has been leaning 
forward more and more, and edging al- 
most out of her chair, in her intentness : 
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" You 've met him ! You know him ! 
You Ve been letting me give myself 
away ! " 

Miss Lawrence: "Mr. Fairford? 
You ? I ? You 've given him away, but 
not yourself, at least to me, Mrs. Ingle- 
hart. I never saw Mr. Fairford in my 
life. I never heard of him till I came 
here." 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Then I don't know 
but it 's worse, for you 've guessed him. 
How you must dread the idea of him ! " 

Miss Ijawrence, thoughtfully : " I 
don't know. I rather like the notion 
of grappling with such a — problem. 
It would be fun to get the better of it." 

Mrs. Inglehart : " And if you got 
the worse ? " 

Miss Lawrence : " I don't believe I 
[14] 



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should get the worse. But now, really, 
hadn't I better go and prink, Mrs. 
Inglehart ? I don't believe Jim would 
like to find me unprepared." 

Mrs. Inglehart: "No. Go and 
prink." 

Miss Lawrence, going in through the 
open door: "If he should happen to 
come before I get down, I know I can 
trust him with you, Mrs. Inglehart." 
She vanishes, with a smile over her 
shoulder at Mrs. Inglehart, who remains 
silent and motionless, apparently insen- 
sible of her withdrawal, though she 
keeps a mechanical smile of parting on 
her face. Her mother enters from the 
door that Miss Lawrence has passed 
through. 

[15] 



An Indian Giver 



II 

MRS. WENHAM, MRS. INGLEHART 

Mrs, Wenham : " When do you ex- 
pect James, Lilly ? " 

Mrs, Inglehart, with a deep sigh : 
" Oh, any time, now. He said he would 
be here at half past four." 

Mrs. Wenham : " Then he '11 he here 
at haK past four." 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Yes, I suppose he 
will, — with his tiresome punctuality." 

Mrs. Wenham : " Tiresome ? If 
there is one thing more than another 
that I like in James Fairford, it is his 
punctuality. It 's something that I can 
thoroughly sympathize with him in. If 
it had not been for 7ny habits of punctu- 
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ality, where would you have been at 
this moment, Lillian ? " 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Perhaps not born. 
But now don't preach, mother. Advise. 
You '11 like it almost as well." 

Mrs. Wenham^ looking doubtful, but 
as if assenting for argument's sake : 
" Well ? " 

Mrs. Inglehart : " What do you 
think of Miss Lawrence ? " 

Mrs. Wenham : " What do you mean 
by thinking ? If you 've been behaving 
foolishly in any way, and want me to 
help you out of it by blaming Miss 
Lawrence " — 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Blame ? Who 's 
talking of blame ? I simply wish to 
know if you don't think she 's something 
of a cat." 

[17] 



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Mrs. Wenham : " Cat ? How, cat ? " 

3Irs, Inglehart : " I mean very purr- 
ing, and sly, and velvety." 

Mrs, Wenham : " No, not at all. " 

Mrs, Inglehart: "Well, then, very 
sharp and clawy." 

Mrs, Wenham : " What have you 
been doing, Lillian ? " 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Nothing. I 've 
been wTidoing. How do you think she 
and Jim will like each other? " 

Mrs, Wenham : " What difference 
how they like each other ? " 

Mrs. Inglehart : " One does n't want 
one's guests to be at sword's points." 

Mrs. Wenham : " I don't know why 
you asked her when you knew he was 
coming." 

Mrs. Inglehart : " I 'm sure they '11 
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like each other. He '11 respect her. I 
respect her myself. She has a great 
deal of character, and all that; but I 
think there 's a vein of coarseness in 
her. Yes, she is coarse. She has a bold 
way of talking about men. It may be 
very modern, and the rest of it, but I 
don't like it, and I don't think it's 
nice." 

3frs. WenJiam : " What men has she 
been talking about ? " 

Mrs. IngleJiart : " Oh, — none." 

3frs. WenJiam : " What has she been 
saying about them ? " 

Mrs. IngleJiart : " Oh, — nothing. 
But girls seem to say anything, nowa- 
days. Especially old ones! How old 
am I, mother ? " 

[19] 



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Mrs, WenJiam : " You 're twenty- 
seven. You know that well enougfli." 

Mrs. Ingleliart : " And she 's twenty- 
six, and looks every day of it." Vaguely, 
after a moment : " I 'm sure / don't 
know how I came to ask her here." 

Mrs, Wenham : " Why do you say 
that, now P Have you been making a 
fool of yourself , Lilly?" 

Mrs. Inglehart ; " I wonH be scolded 
in my own house, mother ! " 

Mrs. Wenham: "Very well, if you 
call it scolding." Mrs. Wenham sits 
very erect in her chair, and gathers all 
her dignity about her ; Mrs. Inglehart 
rocks to and fro in a reckless and dis- 
traught manner. " May I ask a simple 
question ? " 

Mrs. Inglehart : " I suppose so." 
[20] 



An Indian Giver 



Mrs. Wenham : " Are you going to 
accept James ? " 

Mrs, Inglehart : " What an idea ! 
No!'' 

Mrs. Wenham : " Then, if it is n't 
scolding, allow me to say that he will 
have a right to feel trifled with. Your 
letting him come here, after what 's 
past, is tantamount to your saying you 
would marry him if he asked you " — 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Very well, I '11 
keep him from asking me, then. There 
are ways of staving men off." 

Mrs. We7iham : " Not such men as 
James Langton Fairford. You have n't 
forgotten how he behaved when you 
tried it before — before your marriage." 

Mrs. Inglehart : " That was a great 
[21] 



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while ago. I considered him a mere 
boy, and he might have known it." 

Mrs, Wenham : " He was two years 
older than you." 

Mrs. Ingleliart : " And how old was 
I, pray ? Nineteen ! A perfect chit ! 
That proves that he was a boy. And 
he was very rude. If he had been a 
little more — thoughtful, and patient I 
You know how it was, mother. After 
Jim's outrageous conduct, I had no 
alternative but to marry Mr. Inglehart ; 
and I am not going to have it said, now, 
after all I 've been through on his ac- 
count, that I was in love with him all 
along, and married him the minute I 
decently could. I trust I have too much 
regard for Mr. Inglehart's memory for 
that.'' 

[22] 



An Indian Giver 



Mrs. Wenham : " Then allow me to 
say, my dear, without scolding, that I 
don't know what you 're after." 

3Irs. Inglehart : " I 'm not after any- 
thing, if you prefer such a common ex- 
pression. It 's Jim that 's after me ; 
and I shall not feel in the least bound 
to be overtaken. I have other plans for 
him." 

Mrs, Wenham : " Other plans ? " 

Mrs. Inglehart : " He may fancy Ro- 
berta Lawrence. I 'm sure I don't see 
what men find in her, all of them. But 
if it 's frankness, as they call it, I wish 
them joy of it. Of all the detestable 
hypocrites in this world commend me 
to a frank woman. Why, it 's nothing 
but mask upon mask, all the way- 
through ! " 

[23] 



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Mrs, Wenham : " Is this why you are 
so down upon the poor girl ? " 

Mrs. Inglehart: "Down upon her? 
Well, yes ; it may be hate to throw 
such a husband as Jim Fairford in her 
way. At any rate I 've set my heart 
upon making a match between them. 
That will let me out and it will be such 
fun." She expresses her exultation in 
rather a lugubrious note of laughter, 
and tries to escape the severe gaze which 
her mother fixes upon her. 

Mrs. Wenham : " Just one word, 
Lillian Inglehart! Does Miss Law- 
rence know anything of this fine 
scheme ? " 

Mrs. Inglehart: "No. That is, I 
have put it out of my power to accept 
Jim Fairford by telling Roberta Law- 
[24] 



A71 Indian Giver 



rence she may have him if she can get 
him. If she does, or can, that 's the 
end of it ; and it 's the end of it any- 
way." 

Mrs. Wenham: "Well, Lillian, if 
you are in earnest in what you say, you 
are certainly the greatest fool — But 
perhaps you consider this scolding ? " 

Mrs, Inglehart : " Not at all. I call 
it reasoning. Go on." 

Mrs, Wenham: "Oh, I've nothing 
more to say. But if you have really 
told the girl — if you have put this idea 
into her head, you have done a wrong 
and wicked thing, and you '11 have to 
answer for the consequences. It would 
be no more than you deserve if James 
did take a fancy to her, and I hope he 
will ; and if you have a spark of gener- 
[25] 



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osity in your composition, you at least 
won't try to prejudice him against lier." 
Mrs. IngleJiart : " You have such a 
low opinion of me, mother, that I won- 
der you associate with me at all. But 
now I 'm going to wring your bosom by 
an act of the most exemplary magna- 
nimity you ever heard of. A splendid 
idea has just occurred to me. I 'm go- 
ing to send Roberta down to see Jim 
first and receive him. She 's upstairs 
now, prinking, and I 'm going straight 
to my room, and I 'm going to be so slow 
getting ready that she '11 have to go 
down, and she can have him all to her- 
self for a first impression ; and a girl of 
twenty-six knows how to make hay 
while the sun shines. Now what do 
you say ? " 

[26] 



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M7'S. Wenham, going in : " Humpli ! " 
Mrs. Inglehart : " You don't believe 
I '11 do it?" 

3frs. Wenham : " I know you won't." 
3Irs, Inglehart^ calling after her: 
" Well, I 'm so glad you approve of the 
idea, mother. I only wish you could see 
how expressive your back looks, as you 
disappear in the distance. It 's every- 
thing that 's appreciative and flattering." 
As Mrs. Wenham vanishes : " Well, I 
don't care." In the course of her two 
dialogues a great many sewing materials 
and appliances have dropped about Mrs. 
Inglehart on the floor ; as she now rises, 
her scissors fall out of her lap, and as 
she stoops to pick them up she is re- 
minded of the other things. " What a 
bother ! " When she has got them all 
[27] 



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in her lap again, she turns to the door, 
but is arrested by the sound of a quick, 
decided footfall on the steps of the ve- 
randa. She looks round over her shoul- 
der, and in this very pretty and engaging 
attitude she meets the blue eyes flashing 
out of the brown face of James Fairf ord. 
He has a robust hand-bag in one hand 
and an umbrella in the other ; over his 
arm hangs a light overcoat. He is 
dressed in summer stuffs, but in no con- 
cession to the negligence of summer 
fashion ; his shirt is white ; his firm legs 
are cased in trousers that descend to his 
black shoes ; his whole keeping is that 
of a man who despises the appearance 
of recreation, and puts business before 
pleasure. " James ! " Mrs. Inglehart's 
exclamation expresses mingled pleasure, 
[28] 



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surprise, and dismay. She drops all the 
things out of her lap again. " What are 
you doing here at this unearthly hour ? 
You said you would be here at half past 
four ! " She sinks back into her chair. 

Ill 

FAIRFORD AND MRS. INGLEHART, WITH 
MOMENTS OF MISS LAWRENCE 

Fairford : " It 's half past four now." 
He sits heavily down in one of the ve- 
randa chairs, plants his bag before him, 
and then pushes it away with his foot, 
while he mops his forehead with his hand- 
kerchief. 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Did you walk ? " 
Fairford : " Do I seem to have driven ? 
And in what ? " 

[29] 



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Mrs. Inglehart, hiding a smile with 
her hand : " I wonder how you found 
the way." 

Fairford : " They told me at the sta- 
tion." 

Mrs. Inglehart., gracefully sinking 
into a chair : " Did they tell you that if 
it had n't been for your ridiculous punc- 
tuality you 'd have been met at the train ? 
Now you see what comes of being on 
time ! " 

Fairford ; " I dare say they would if 
they could have spared a moment from 
the celebration of your charms and vir- 
tues. You seem to have cast your con- 
founded glamour over the neighborhood, 
as usual." 

Mrs, IngleJiart: "Yes, it 's new to me. 
It must have been the telegraph girl ! '^ 
[30] 



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Fairford : " There was a girl, and 
there was a telegraph. I didn't see them 
in combination." 

Mrs. Inglehart : " They were one, all 
the same. Yes, I may say she 's quite 
an ardent admirer." 

Fairford: "So am I, Lillian." 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Oh yes. But you 
must n't say it. I hope you were n't rude 
to the poor girl on that account ? " 

Fairford : " Why must n't I say it ? 
I 've come here to say it ! " 

Mrs. Inglehart, to gain time : " But 
you 've said it before — and you ought 
to be a little more diversified in your 
remarks." 

Fairford, getting to his feet : " Lillian, 
how can you trifle with me so ? Surely 
you know what I must understand — 
[31] 



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must hope — from your allowing me to 
come here to-day ? " He starts toward 
her and stumbles over his bag ; he kicks 
the bag : Mrs. Inglehart laughs. " Oh, 
laugh at me, make a fool of me ! " 

3£rs. Inglehart : " You know you 
don't approve of me, Jim ; you know 
you don't." 

Fairford : " I believe you can make 
me approve of you if you choose. And 
if you don't choose, I want you any- 
way." 

Mi'S. Inglehart : " Oh ! Do you think 
that 's very logical ? " 

Fairford, bitterly : " No, I 'm not 
proud of it. As you say, it is n't logi- 
cal ; it is n't reasonable ; but I always 
wanted you; I wanted you long ago, 
before you were married." 
[32] 



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Mrs. Inglehart : " Why do people say 
you don't know how to flatter ? I 'm sure 
it 's enough to turn my poor head to have 
a man say he is n't proud of caring for 
me, but he keeps on doing it regardless 
of consequences." 

Fairford : " You know what I mean. 
I never pretended that you were my 
ideal in character, but " — 

Mrs. Inglehart : " I thought it was 
customary to tell the lady that she was 
your ideal. That 's what they always 
tell me ! " 

Fairford : " I don't care what other 
people tell you. / tell you the truth ; 
and I tell you that you are not my 
ideal." 

Mrs. Inglehart : " What am I, then, 
if I 'm not your ideal ? " 
[33] 



A71 Indian Giver 



Fairford : " You 're — you 're my 
love. But you know that." 

Mrs. Inglehart : " I 've heard you 
say so. But I 'm not sure that I know 
it." 

Fairford : " Not sure ! " 

Mrs. Inglehart : " You may not be 
sure of your own mind." 

Fairford : " This is trifling, Lillian. 
What do you say to me ? " 

Mrs. Inglehart : " What can I say 
till I 'm convinced you 're in earnest ? " 

Fairford : " And what will convince 
you ? It seems to me that it 's proof 
enough of my sincerity that I 'm here 
to offer myself to you and to ask you to 
be my wife. Did n't you know that I 
was coming to do that ? What else do 
you expect ? Do you want me to say 
[34] 



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that you are my ideal, that you are 
everything in nature and character that 
I have dreamed of, and that I would not 
have you different ? " 

Mrs, Inglehart : " You might try it. 
I don't know what effect it would have." 

Fairford : " You wish me to minis- 
ter to your vanity, to fill your head with 
nonsense. Well, I will never do it ! " 

3frs. Inglehart: "Then I don't see 
how it 's going to end. You might at 
least say you believe I could become 
your ideal." 

Fairford : " But if I don't believe 
you could, and therefore I renounce my 
ideal ; if I throw it away, and I tell you 
that you, whatever you are, are a thou- 
sand times dearer than anything I've 
ever imagined ? And yet you might be 
[35] 



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all that I 've ever dreamed of in woman, 
prompt, energetic, constant in purpose, 
with a high sense of duty, a devotion to 
noble " — 

Mrs, Ingleliart : " Another James 
Fairford. What egotism ! Yes, I 
could easily be all that, if I wanted to. 
The trouble is I could n't want to." 

Fairford ; " I know it, and I don't 
ask it of you. I ask you merely to be 
yourself, — and to be mine." 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Do you think that 's 
so little, that you say merely f Asking 
a woman to be herself and to be yours 
is asking everything." 

Fairford : " Then don't be yourself ; 
don't be anything but mine." 

Mrs, Inglehai't: "Now you are be- 
ginning to talk sense " -r- 
[36] 



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Fairford^ starting toward her ; " And 
you consent — ■ you " — A sound as 
of a lifting window above the veranda 
roof is heard, and then, after a mo- 
ment, the voice of Miss Koberta Law- 
rence. 

MisB Lawrence, : " Mrs. Inglehart ! " 

Mrs. Inglehart, in a low key to Fair- 
ford : " Oh, good gracious, I forgot all 
about her ! JVow what am I to do ? " 
In a high key to Miss Lawrence: 
"Yes?" 

Miss Lawrence, with a nervous laugh : 
" Oh, it is you. I thought, I was n't 
sure it was you I heard. What time is 
it, please ? " 

Mrs. Inglehart : " It 's a little after 
four — a quarter — twenty minutes "' — 

Miss Lawrence : " Then there 's time, 
[37] 



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yet." There is a sound of a closing 
window. 

Fairford : " Why did you say that, 
Lillian ? You know it 's twenty minutes 
of five." 

Mrs, Inglehart : " That 's a very 
charming girl, Jim — a Miss Roberta 
Lawrence. I want you to meet her. 
But perhaps you have met her al- 
ready " — 

Fairford: "No; but that isn*t the 
point. Why did you say twenty min- 
utes ? I wish you had n't, dear ! " 

3frs. Inglehart : " Well, it is twenty 
minutes — and more too ; it 's twenty 
minutes of five. You said so yourself. 
Now don't tease, but go and prettify. 
That 's what she 's doing " — The 
sound of the lifting window is heard 
[38] 



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again, and then the voice of Miss Law- 
rence. 

Miss Lawrence : " Mrs. Inglehart ! 
Are you still there ? " 

Mrs. Inglehart^ in a high key : "Yes ! " 
In a low key to Fairford : " Now you 
must go ! It 's a shame for you to stay 
here eavesdropping. And making me, 
too ; and you so conscientious ! 'Sh ! " 

Miss Lawrence : " I 'm in something 
of a dilemma. I don't know whether 
it had better be the green, or the blue." 

Mrs, Inglehart : " Oh — the blue, 
dear ; or no, the green — blue, I mean.'* 
In a low key to Fairford: "Now you 
have spoilt everything, and disgraced 
me before my guest. I can never for- 
give you ! " 

Fairford : " How have I done that ? 
[39] 



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She has said nothing that compromises 
either of you " — 

3£rs. IngleJiart : " You 've let her 
give herself away. You know that it 's 
for you she 's choosing between blue 
and green." 

Fairford : " Bless my soul, how 
should I know such a thing ? " 

Mrs, IngleJiart : " Don't you suppose 
I told her you were coming? And 
when she comes down and finds you 
here you won't be capable of seeming 
to have come just that instant." 

Fairford: " If she asks "— 

Mi'S. Ingleliart : " As if she would 
ask ! She is too high-spirited, too noble- 
minded to go prying about ; but it will 
kill her, all the same. You don't know 
how a girl like Roberta Lawrence, so 
[40] 



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frank herself, and so unsuspicious, will 
take such a thing. Of course, if it 
was I, I could laugh it off ; but she will 
think that I did it purposely ; she won't 
show it, but she will never believe that 
I was as innocent as she was in the mat- 
ter." 

Fairford : " It seems to me you 're 
not painting a very frank and unsus- 
picious character." 

Mrs. Inglehart : " I mean I should in 
her place. You know what I mean. 
But if you prefer to vex me — She '11 
be asking something else in another 
minute ! " 

Fairford: "But what do you want 
me to do ? " 

Mrs. Inglehm^t : " You must thinh 
what I want you to do. You have got 
[41] 



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me into this trouble, by your ridicu- 
lous promptness, and you must get me 
out." 

Fairford: "Then let me go to my 
room, and I can't overhear anything 
more." 

Mr8, Inglehart : " Oh, you think it 's 
so simple as that, do you ? Wait a min- 
ute — I have it ! You must go away ! 
And you must come back in about ten 
minutes or so, as if you had n't been 
here at all. And you must apologize 
for being late ; say you missed the 
train, or something like that, and " — 

Fairford, sitting doggedly down : 
" No, I can't do anything of the kind." 

Mrs, Inglehart : " You can't ? " 

Fairford: "Well, then, I won't. It 
would be acting a lie." 
[421 



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Mrs. Inglehart : *' Tou accuse me of 
wishing you to lie." 

Fairford : " I don't think you do it 
knowingly. But, Lillian, you must 
see" — 

Mrs. Inglehart : " 'Sh I There, she 's 
putting up her window again ! " 

Miss Laiorence^ from her window : 
" I Ve decided not to dress at him, Mrs. 
Inglehart. I am going to be perfectly 
passive, and let fate take its course. 
I 'm going to wear my silver-gray." 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Perfect ! " In a 
low tone to Fairford, desperately : " It 's 
too late for you to go away now. You 
might as well stay ! " 

Fairford : " But I don't understand. 
Why should Miss Lawrence dress at 
me ? Have you dressed at me, Lillian ? 
[43] 



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You look heavenly in that — thing 
you 've got on ; I don't know what 
it is." 

3frs. Inglehart : " Oh, much pleasure 
your compliments give me, when I 
know what a cold, hollow heart they 
come from ! I may dress for you, but 
you won't gratify me in the smallest 
thing. Suppose your going away does 
have the appearance of deceit? Is a 
mere appearance so very killing, when 
it 's for such a good object ? Oh, Jim ! 
Do help me out! Think of the poor 
girl's feelings if she comes down and 
finds you here ! She '11 hnoic you over- 
heard her. If you really cared for 
me" — 

Fairford., rising with a groan, and 
gathering his bag up for going : " And 
[44] 



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if I go — if I do this against my reason 
and conscience, wliat shall you do with 
me when I come back ? " 

Mrs. Liglehart: "You '11 be so in- 
terested in Miss Lawrence you won't 
care." 

Fairford : " That won't do, Lillian. 
I shall want my answer when I come 
back. Will you promise it ? " 

Mrs. Inglehart : " It 's very mean of 
you to make conditions ! I '11 listen to 
you. But I won't even do that if you 
stay. And if you think I 'm asking 
you to act a lie, just think what a lie 
you 've been making me act." 

Fairford: "I? How?" 

Mrs. Inglehart : " By letting me see 
you before you saw her, when I prom- 
ised mamma I would n't." 
[45] 



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Fairford : " But wliy did you prom- 
ise that? What" — 

Mrs, Inglehart : " That has nothing 
to do with it. A promise is a promise, 
and sacred. Will you go ? And when 
you come back, and find Miss Lawrence 
here, will you ask after me as if you 
had n't met me ? " 

Fairford : " No, certainly not. I can't 
carry the deceit as far as that." 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Not to enable me 
to keep my promise ? Very well, then, 
that shows that you don't trust me, and 
if you don't trust me, you can't care for 
me." 

Fairford : " I don't trust you in the 

least, and I care all the world for you. 

For heaven's sake, Lillian, be candid 

with me, for once, and tell me what all 

[46] 



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this coil is ! I know that whatever 
you 've got in your head, there 's no- 
thing but truth in your heart, and if you 
would only be guided by that " — 

Mrs. Inglehart, apparently fascinated 
by the idea: "Well, I will. I'll tell 
you all about it. You see that we were 
talking about your coming, and I said 
to Roberta Lawrence — 'Sh ! There 's 
her step ! She 's coming out of her 
room — she 's on the stairs ! Run, 
James, if you love me ! " She pushes 
him towards the veranda steps, and 
without waiting to see him vanish round 
the corner of the house, she turns, and 
flies through the long window into the 
drawing-room, while Miss Lawrence 
emerges from the hallway, and Mrs. 
Wenham advances from the veranda 
[47] 



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on the side of the house opposite that 
which has just hidden Fairford from 
view. 

IV 

MISS LAWRENCE AND MRS. WENHAM 

Miss Lawrence : " Mrs. Inglehart ! " 
To Mrs. Wenham: "I thought Mrs. 
Inglehart was here ! " 

Mrs. Wenham : " And I thought I 
heard talking. But I must have 
dreamed it. I seem to have dozed over 
my book." 

Miss Lawrence : " Perhaps you heard 
me calling down to her. I was consult- 
ing her about Mr. Fairford's taste in 
colors. Is n't he very late ? " She looks 
in at the clock in the hall, and Mrs. 
Wenham looks in too. 
[48] 



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Mrs. Wenham : " Yes ; it 's nearly 
five, and he promised to be here at half 
past four. Something must have de- 
tained him ; he 's usually so prompt." 

Miss Lawrence, smiling : " Yes, ter- 
ribly prompt, I believe. At least that 's 
the impression Mrs. Inglehart gives of 
him." The ladies have seated them- 
selves, and Miss Lawrence, reclining in 
her chair, indifferently studies the effect 
of a ring on her left hand. 

Mrs. Wenham, looking at her over 
her glasses: "You've never met my 
nephew, I believe ? " 

Miss Lawrence : " No ; and I 've no 
idea how he '11 like me. You know it 's 
very important he should like me. Mrs. 
Inglehart has given him to me." 

Mrs. Wenham, dryly : " Yes, I have 
[49] 



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been scolding Lillian for her nonsense. 
He is not hers to give." 

Miss Lawrence : " Oh ! To keep, 
then!" 

Mrs. Wenham : " I am not so sure. 
Miss Lawrence, I know that you are a 
very frank person " — 

Miss Lawrence : " Some people say 
merely brutal." 

Mrs, Wenham : " No matter ! I feel 
that I can speak frankly with you. 
Don't trust my daughter ! " 

Miss Lawrence : " This is frank." 

Mrs. Wenham : " She acts upon im- 
pulses that she regrets. She is in love 
with James Fairford, I believe, and 
I know that he is in love with her. 
He was, before she married Mr. Ingle- 
hart, and I think she was with him ; 
[50] 



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but the affair never came to anything, 
because — because — It was Lillian's 
fault ; she could n't be serious with 
him." 

Miss Lawrence : " And now ? Has 
he got over wanting her to be serious, 
or has she become so ? " 

Mrs. Wenham : " Lillian will never 
be serious — at least not like other 
people ; and that is why I feel it my 
duty to be serious with you. No one 
knows Lillian as I do. If she saw that 
any one else wanted James, she would 
move heaven and earth to get him her- 
self." 

Miss Lawrence^ laughing : " Really, 
what you say rather inclines me to try 
for him. I should like to see Mrs. 
Inglehart moving heaven and earth." 
[51] 



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Mrs. Wenham : " Don't, my dear ! 
I should simply leave the house. There 
is n't a thing she would n't do if she 
saw you wanted him." Miss Lawrence 
laughs more and more. " I know what 
nonsense she has been talking to you, 
and I made her promise, just to punish 
her, that she would let you meet him 
first, and have a chance to — I mean 
that she should be made to suffer a little 
for her wicked folly " — 

Miss Lawrence : " Through some 
finesse of mine ? Would n't that be 
rather too much theatre ? " 

Mrs. Wenham : " Yes, I don't know 
what she would n't do in her jealousy ; 
for she 'd be frantically, blindly, madly 
jealous if she thought he cared for you 
the least bit." 

[52] 



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Miss Laiorence: "Poor Mrs. Ingle- 
hart ! I should like to see her jealous. 
It does n't seem in character. But I 'm 
greatly obliged to you for securing me 
the first innings. How do you propose 
to manage it?" 

Mrs, Wenham : " That I shall leave 
entirely to Lillian. I suppose that as 
she 's out of the way, and he 's expected 
momentarily, she 's actually keeping her 
word, and " — 

Miss Lawrence : " I 'm sitting here 
to intercept Mr. Fairford on his way 
into the house ! Is n't it rather cold- 
blooded ? But I don't mind ! You don't 
think he could manage to escape me, 
somehow ? " 

3£rs. Wenham : " I shall be sitting 
here too ; and I dare say Lillian has 
[53] 



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given directions wliere he 's to be re- 
ceived." 

Miss Lawrence : " Heroic Mrs. Ingle- 
hart I I begin to quake a little. Do 
you know, if I had been sAe, I should 
have broken my word." After a thought- 
ful moment : " If one were really medi- 
tating an assault upon Mr. Fairford's 
affections, what should you say was his 
weakest side, Mrs. Wenham ? " 

Mrs. Wenham: "James?" Proudly: 
" He has no weak side." 

Miss Lawrence : " Oh, I did n't say 
weak, I said weakest. Where is he 
least strong?" 

Mrs. Wenham : " Except for his in- 
conceivable folly in regard to Lillian, 
I should say that James Fairford was 
equally strong at all points. He is 
[54] 



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truth itself; promptitude, sincerity, 
justice, honor " — 

Miss Laiorence^ with a deep breath : 
" He is formidable." 

Mrs. Wenham: "He despises any- 
thing like double-dealing, or prevarica- 
tion, or even evasion. He will admire 
you^ Miss Lawrence." 

Miss Lawrence : " Oh, thank you ! 
I begin to have my doubts." Mrs. 
Inglehart appears at one of the long 
veranda windows, and looks through 
them, with her hands lifted to either 
side of the casement. " Oh, come out, 
Mrs. Inglehart ! " 

[55] 



An Indian Giver 



MRS. INGLEHART, MISS LAWRENCE, MRS. 
WENHAM 

Mrs. Inglehart : " It 's very tempting. 
But I can't, and I 've got to take my 
mother away too, and consult about 
some little changes in receiving Mr. 
Fairford. You must keep him here 
until I come." 

Miss Lawrence : " I wish he were 
here now. If he could only see you 
there as you 're standing now ! I wish 
you could see yourself, and you 'd agree 
with me that there was never anything 
quite so graceful as that pose of yours." 

Mrs. Inglehart : " You must tell him 
about it when he does come ; that will 
be such a nice pose for you.'''' 
[56] 



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Miss Lawrence, rising and bobbing 
a courtesy to Mrs. Inglehart in acknow- 
ledo-ment of her little dioj: "Thank 
you, so much ! " To Mrs. Wenham, 
who joins her daughter : " And you 're 
actually going to leave me alone with 
Mr. Fairford ! " 

Mrs. Wenham: "You'll be in the 
best of hands, my dear. Kemember 
what I told you." 

Miss Lawrence : "I shan't forget 
such a charge as that ! " 

Mrs. Lnglehart: "A conspiracy?'* 
She looks from one to the other ; then 
over her shoulder, as she vanishes 
within : " Be sure to keep him ; tell 
him he can't go to his room just yet." 

Miss Lawrence, calling after her: 
"Oh, I'll keep him." When Mrs. 

[57] 



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Inglehart and lier mother are out of 
sight, she bows herself forward in silent 
laughter, and when she lifts her face 
out of her hands again, she confronts 
Fairford, who is stealthily mounting the 
veranda steps, with a manner the re- 
verse of his earlier brusqueness and 
severity. At sight of him Miss Law- 
rence springs to her feet, and comes 
gayly toward him with outstretched 
hand : " Mr. Fairford ? Miss Law- 
rence! Mrs. Inglehart has commis- 
sioned me to welcome you in her place, 
and to keep you here, while she and 
Mrs. Wenham are taking counsel to- 
gether about your room. Won't you 
sit down till they come? " 
[58] 



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VI 



FAIRFORD AND MISS LAWRENCE. 

Fairford^ backing upon a chair, with 
his bag in his hand and his overcoat on 
his arm : " Thank you." He falls into 
the chair and stares helplessly at her. 

Miss Lawrence: "Was your train 
late, or did you take a later one ? You 
see the fame of your promptness has 
preceded you, and you were expected 
at half past four." 

Fairford: "The train wasn't late; 
I 'm late — I 've been walking " — 

Miss Lawrence^ politely : " From the 
station ! " 

Fairford^ with a deep sigh of relief : 
"Yes — I walked — from the station, 
yes." 

[59] 



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Miss Lawrence : " Then that ac- 
counts for it. And it must take some 
time for the wayfarer who is n't person- 
ally conducted to find his way round to 
the entrance of Mrs. Inglehart's house. 
A house naturally fronts before, but if 
it has the sea in the rear, there 's a 
certain temptation to front behind, and 
Mrs. Inglehart's house has yielded to the 
temptation. Don't you think it 's like 
her ? So full of — unexpectedness ! " 

Fairford : " Yes ; very singular. 
Very puzzling — if you 've never been 
here before." 

Miss Lawrence^ keenly : " And is this 
the first time you 've been here ? " 

Fairford : " I " — Desperately : " I've 
never been here before to-day." 

Miss Laiorence : "Do you mean, 
[60] 



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never before to-day, or never to-day be- 
fore?" 

Fairford : "I mean, never before 
to-day ; not to-day before." 

Miss Lawrence: "Then there is a 
difference ! I 'm so glad ; I thought 
there was n't when I asked." She muses 
aloud: "Let me see! He has never 
been here before to-day; but he may 
have been here to-day before. Is that 
sense? Let me try it the other way! 
He has been here to-day before, but he 
has never been here before to-day." 
Fairford gazes uneasily at her. " I 
can't make it out ; but I '11 ask Mrs. 
Inglehart when she comes ; she '11 know. 
I '11 put it as a conundrum : If a gentle- 
man has never been here before to-day, 
and yet has been here to-day before, 
[61] 



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when has the gentleman been here be- 
fore?" Fairford listens with signs of 
increasing terror, which culminate in a 
violent start when she turns suddenly 
upon him : " Mr. Fairford, I 'm tempted 
to make you a confidence ! Oh — ha, 
ha, ha! Don't be frightened. It's 
only something psychical. But I have 
had such a strange impression in re- 
gard to you." 

Fairford, in alarm : " Me ? " 
Miss Lawrence: "Yes. I wonder 
if I may venture to speak of it ; but 
with your frankness — oh, all your vir- 
tues have anticipated you ; every one 
was here promptly at half past four! 
— I 'm sure you '11 answer me. As you 
came up the veranda steps, just now, 
I had that weird sense of its all having 
[62] 



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happened before. You have had it : 
every one has ; but at this instant it 's 
so vivid with me that it seems as if you 
must share it with me." Laughingly : 
" Do you have a been-here-before feel- 
ing too ? " 

Fairford ; " I can't say — I — May 
I ask what you mean ? " 

iliiss Lawrence, : " I don't wonder 
you 're surprised. But I 'm so curious 
to know whether two persons could have 
that weird seizure at the same moment 
in regard to the same thing. Of course 
it 's impossible, and I ought really to 
beg your pardon, but as you came up 
the veranda steps, just now, it flashed 
upon me, ' He feels as if he had been 
here before.' Perhaps it was a strange 
look — Excuse me ; I 'm odiously per- 
[63] 



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sonal. Will you please to make a re- 
mark?" 

Fairford ; " I ! A remark ? " 

Miss Laiurence : " Yes ; anything — 
anything to turn the conversation. I 've 
made all the remarks up to this point. 
I see you don't like psychical confi- 
dences." 

Fairford : " Yes — I like them very 
much. But I wish to say — I ought to 
tell you — I don't know how to " — 
He stops and stares at her. 

Miss Lawrence^ looking down at her 
dress on either side of her, and twitch- 
ing it : " Is there something on my 
gown ? A bug ? A caterpillar ? No ? " 
Laughing: "A woman always thinks 
something 's wrong with her dress when 
people stare. But perhaps it 's only 
[64] 



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the color ? It 's a very peculiar shade 
of gray ; I 've been told by flatterers 
that I look like a wraith in it, and you 
look — excuse me, really, Mr. Fair ford ! 
you look as if I did look like a wraith ! " 

Fairford : " Not at all, I assure you. 
But I — but in regard to your psychical 
experience, I wish — I feel bound to 
say"- 

Miss Lawrence : " Then you like 
that kind of thing ! Do let me tell you 
another ! It 's apropos of this gown, 
which I wish you to notice particularly, 
so that you can corroborate me when I 
tell Mrs. Inglehart." She rises, and puts 
it in evidence by slowly turning in front 
of her chair ; Fairford starts up, and 
backs away in vague alarm. " Should 
you have thought I put it on for you? " 
[65] 



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Fairford^ gasping : " For me ? " 

Miss Lawrence : " No ? Did n't you 
know it? " She fixes him with a pier- 
cing glance, and then sinks into her chair 
again, laughing, while he remains stand- 
ing, aghast. " It can't be the first time 
that you 've been dressed at by a young 
lady ; it 's something that 's always hap- 
pening when men are expected in houses 
where girls are. Don't you know 
that?" 

Fairford^ with relief ; "I suppose — 
I dare say " — 

Miss Lawrence : " But, unless you 
know, you never could imagine the rest 
of what I 'm going to tell you. I 've 
just had the most awful scare. A little 
while before you came, I was up in 
my room, which looks out over the roof 
[66] 



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of the veranda here, and I fell into a 
hopeless doubt between blue and green. 
Which should I wear ? I could n't de- 
cide, and as I had left Mrs. Inglehart 
sitting here alone, I indulged myself in 
a little impulse. I put up my window, 
and asked Mrs. Inglehart which it 
should be, and then after I had decided, 
I decided over again, and put up my 
window to tell her so. It was this last 
time that I had my fright. I thought 
— I fancied — I dreamed — that I heard 
another voice just before I spoke, and 
that this voice was a man's voice. Of 
course it was impossible, in the nature 
of things, even if it was so, but it served, 
for the time being. As soon as I could 
I reasoned myself out of it. Mrs. Ingle- 
hart could n't be so ungenerous — so 
[67] 



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unkind — as to let me suppose she was 
here alone, and even if she could, the 
man would have insisted upon giving 
me some proof of his presence, if he was 
a gentleman. Of course if it were the 
groom, or the gardener, or some work- 
man about the place, I needn't care; 
and so, as I said, I reasoned myself out 
of it. But it was a very pretty scare 
while it lasted, I can assure you. I 
really suppose it was this that gave me 
that been-here-before feeling when I 
saw you coming up the steps. Ah, here 
comes Mrs. Inglehart, and I'm off 
duty ; but please don't speak to her of 
it, will you ? I wish to tell her later 
myself. You promise ? " 

Fairford: "Yes" — 

Miss Lawrence : " Oh, thank you. 
[68] 



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I'll be back directly, Lilly. I 've kept 
Mr. Fairford safely for you." She 
waves her hand to Mrs. Inglehart as 
she appears at the parlor window, and 
vanishes through the door into the hall. 

VII 

MRS. INGLEHART AND FAIRFORD 

Mrs. Inglehart., coming out on the 
veranda : " What is it you are not to 
tell me?" 

Fairford : " Who is that, Lillian ? " 

Mrs. Inglehart : " It 's Miss Law- 
rence, of course. Don't you like her ? " 

Fairford: "Against my reason and 

conscience, I consented to go away and 

come back, in this disgraceful fashion, to 

spare your feelings, and hers ; and the 

[69] 



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result is tliat I shall do neither, and that 
I shall not be able to hold up my head." 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Why, what in the 
world has happened ? " 

Fairford: " That is what I can't tell 
you ; that 's what I promised I would n't 
tell. You can ask Miss Lawrence ; I 
am going away." 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Going away ! " 

Fairford : " I have been placed in a 
thoroughly false position. To oblige 
you, I have consented to act a falsehood, 
and I have done it so badly that" — 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Of course you 've 
done it badly. I expected that. But 
what of it? Did she get it out of 
you?" 

Fairford : " I must leave you to learn 
from Miss Lawrence what has passed. 
[70] 



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I have given my word, and I must keep 
it. Good-by ! " He bows coldly, and 
goes toward the veranda steps. 

Mrs. Inglehart, running to intercept 
him : " But you are not actually going ! 
You can't be so insane, so wicked as 
that!" 

Fairford : " You Ve made it impos- 
sible for me to stay. The truth must 
come out, and then you will see why." 

Mrs. Inglehart : " But no matter how 
bad the truth is, you 11 only make it 
worse by going ! " 

Fairford : " I must be judge of that. 
Will you please let me pass ? " 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Do you think this 

is treating me very nicely ? What shall 

I say to Miss Lawrence ? How shall I 

explain? Oh, Jim, dear! Don't be 

[71] 



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boyish ! I 've no doubt that as soon as 
I know what the trouble is, I can make 
it right. I might have known she would 
tangle you up, somehow ; but it can't be 
bad enough to drive you from my house. 
Think how it will look ! " 

Fairford : "I must leave appear- 
ances to you, hereafter ; you can manage 
them better." 

Mrs. IngleJiart: "Is that what she 
said of me ? " 

Fairford: "Lillian!" 

Mrs, Inglehart : " I did n't mean 
that, Jim; indeed I didn't. But you 
can't imagine how awkward it will be for 
me if you go ; what a false position it 
will place me in. Don't be selfish ! 
Don't go. I ash you to stay.^^ She 
looks at him significantly. 
[72] 



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Fairford : " It 's too late. I 'd have 
given the world to hear that from you 
a little while ago ; but now " — He 
falters. 

Mrs. IngleJiart : " Very well ; go, 
then ! / know what the trouble is. She 
knew that you had been here before, 
and she could only have done it by 
eavesdropping." 

Fairford : " No, Lillian ; it was we 
who were eavesdropping." 

Mrs. IngleJiart : " Then it 's not 
eavesdropping to listen from a window, 
but it is from a veranda ? She heard 
every word we were saying here, and her 
calling down to me was a mere ruse. 
I might have known it at the time. 
But of course, if you think I was ca- 
pable of eavesdropping and she was n't, 
[73] 



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that settles the matter, and I have no 
more to say. Don't let me keep yon, 
Mr. Fairford." She suddenly bursts 
into tears, and catching her handker- 
chief to her face, flies through the win- 
dow and vanishes, at the same moment 
that Mrs. Wenham appears at the hall- 
way door. 

VIII 

MRS. WENHAM AND FAIEFORD 

Mrs. Wenham, coming forward to 
where Fairford remains standing motion- 
less, bag in hand : " Why, James ! 
You 've got here at last. What in the 
world kept you ? Have you just come ? " 
Fairford * " I 'm just going." 
Mrs. Wenham : " Going ? Without 
seeing Lillian ? " 

[74] 



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Faiyford : " I have seen her, and — 
that 's why I 'm going." 

Mrs, Wenham : " She is n't sending 
you away ! " 

Fairford : " No, no ! Not in that 
sense of the word. We 've quarreled. 
Aunt Harriet, I wish to tell you " — 

Mrs, Wenham: "Oh, you needn't 
tell me ! I know what it is. It 's part 
of that miserable nonsense of hers 
about — But you have n't seen Miss 
Lawrence ! " 

Fairford^ in dull despair : " Yes, 
I 've seen Miss Lawrence." 

Mrs, Wenham : " And Lillian was 
angry with you on that account, and in 
her ridiculous jealousy — Well, then, 
I 'm glad she 's lost you, James." 

Fairford : " I 'm not, Aunt Harriet. 
[75] 



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And I 'm afraid it is n't just as you think 
it is. I must tell you something — I 
promised not to tell Lillian, but I may 
tell you " — 

3Irs. WenJiam : " You may tell me 
a?i?/thing, James. Whom did you 
promise ? " 

Fairford : " Miss Lawrence. I came 
at half past four as I promised, and I 
found Lillian on the veranda here " — 

Mrs. Wenham : " Lillian ? And 
where was Miss Lawrence ? " 

Fairford : " I don't know — or I 
did n't then ; but it seems somewhere 
overhead ; and presently, while we were 
talking, she put up her window, and be- 
gan calling down to Lillian, and asking 
her what she should wear. Lillian 
seemed to have forgotten about her " — 
[76] 



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Mrs. WenJiam : " Wretched child ! " 

Fairford : " And when she remem- 
bered, she said she had promised you 
Miss Lawrence should see me first, and 
I must go away, and come back so as to 
give the impression that I had n't been 
here." 

Mrs, Wenham : " But you never con- 
sented to such an outrageous imposi- 
tion?" 

Fairford : " I did n't like it ; but I 
thought Lillian was right in thinking 
Miss Lawrence would be annoyed if she 
knew that I had overheard her, and I 
consented — in violation of every prin- 
ciple of my life. When I came back, 
Miss Lawrence was here." 

Mrs. Weiiham: "Well?" 

Fairford: "It was useless. She 
[77] 



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"began to let me understand at once 
tliat she knew I liad been liere already, 
and — in short, tlie game was up. She 
kept the whole thing in such form that 
I could neither admit it nor deny it. 
When Lillian returned and Miss Law- 
rence left us, I threatened to go away, 
and she begged me to stay, and after 
we had some hot words, she told me 
to go, and — here I am. What is it 
all about. Aunt Harriet ? Why should 
she promise you to let Miss Lawrence 
receive me, and why should Miss Law- 
rence wish to dress especially to please 
me?" 

Mrs, Wenham : " I will tell you, 

James. But first sit down and put that 

bag somewhere. You 're not going, and 

Lillian never meant you to go, any 

[78] 



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more than you meant to leave her when 
you threatened it. I 'm glad I know- 
just how the case stands, and I think I 
can make you see Lillian's behavior in 
the right light, though I am thoroughly 
ashamed of it myself, and disgusted 
with her, and I 've told her so. You 
will always have to account for some- 
thing that is wholly incomprehensible 
in Lillian, if you expect to understand 
her at all." 

Fairford^ patiently : " Yes, that is 
what I have always tried to do." 

Mrs. WenJiam : " Well, then, you 
can easily imagine that when she had 
consented to your coming here to-day 
on terms that any one else would feel 
were the same as accepting you, she 
should feel the need of putting it out of 
[79] 



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her power to accept you — or rather that 
she would have to be in the greatest 
danger of losing you — before she was 
able to accept you." 

Fairford^ making an effort : " I think 
I can conceive of something like that. 
What has it to do with Miss Law- 
rence's trying to please my taste in 
dress ? " 

Mrs. Wenham : " Simply this. Be- 
fore she could realize your loss, Lillian 
had to give you to some one else." 

Fairford^ after a moment's reflec- 
tion : " If you wanted anything, would 
you put it out of your power, in order to 
realize your desire for it ? " 

Mrs. Wenliam: "No, but Lillian 
would ; and I should respect you a 
great deal more if you renounced her 
[80] 



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forever, and took a fancy to Miss 
Lawrence. But I hope you won't, for I 
know that Lillian is devotedly fond of 

you.'^ 

Fairford : " I 'm afraid there 's no 
danger of my renouncing her. Whom 
did she give me to ? " 

Mr 8. Wenham: " Oh, you poor, sin- 
gle-minded man ! To Miss Lawrence." 

Fairford : " And did Miss Lawrence 
know it?" 

Mrs. Wenham : " James, I don't won- 
der Lillian finds you rather trying at 
times. Of course she knew it I And I 
insisted upon her being allowed to meet 
you first, and to — to — to " — 

Fairford: "What?" 

Mrs. Wenham : " My dear, you are 
enough to try the patience of a saint. 
[81] 



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Sucli innocence as yours is criminal ! " 
At this word, Mrs. Ingiehart suddenly 
emerges from the drawing-room window 
upon the veranda. 

IX 

MRS. INGLEHAUT, MRS. WENHAM, AND 
FAIRFORD 

Mrs, Ingiehart : " I will not have 
you abusing me to James, mother." 

iHfrs. Wenham .• " I was not speak- 
ing of you ! " 

Mrs. Ingiehart .; " You said crimi- 
nal." 

Mrs. Wenham : " I said James was 
criminal — for being so good." 

Mrs. Ingiehart : " Oh ! And what 
have you been saying about me ? " 
[82] 



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Mrs, Wenham : "I 've been explain- 
ing you." 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Very well, then, I 
won't he explained — above all to Mr. 
Fairford." She sits down and looks at 
her mother. " I thought he was going." 

Fairford^ appealingly : " You know 
I couldn't go, Lillian " — 

Mrs. Inglehart^ ignoring him : " He 
said he was going; but perhaps that 
was a man's way of meaning that he 
was n't. You never can tell what they 
mean from what they say. Do you 
know where Miss Lawrence is, mother? 
I wish to tell her that Mr. Fairford has 
changed his mind, and is going to stay 
after all. She may not like to come to 
dinner in that case ; or Mr. Fairford 
may not like to meet her. They seem 
[83] 



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both to be victims of the same deceit, 
poor dears. I 'm sure I don't know who 
has tried to deceive them, except for 
their own good." 

Fairford : " I never doubted your 
motive, Lillian. I know how generous 
you are. I only objected to the false 
position that I was placed in with refer- 
ence to Miss Lawrence." 

Mrs. Inglehart^ always ignoring him : 
" I hope you are satisfied, mother, with 
having insisted on my letting Miss Law- 
rence meet Mr. Fairford first, instead 
of receiving him myself as a hostess 
should." 

Mrs. Wenham, rising in virtuous in- 
dignation : " Lillian, I will not allow 
you to be so perverse ! I don't care 
how old you are. You are acting like 
[84] 



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a. naughty child, but I suppose it 's 
because you 're thoroughly ashamed of 
yourself. I 've told James all about 
your wicked folly, and if I were he I 
should go away, and leave you to get 
out of it as you could. I wash my hands 
of the whole affair." Mrs. Wenham 
sweeps indoors and abandons the cous- 
ins to their own devices. 

X 

MRS. INGLEHART AND FAIRFORD 

Mrs. Inglehart, after a marked si- 
lence, very mildly and meekly : " Well, 
Jim!" 

Fairford : " Well, Lil ! " 

Mrs. Inglehart : " What do you 
think of me now ? " 

[85] 



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Fair ford ; " I have n't changed my 
mind ; but I think I understand you a 
little better than I did." 

Mrs. Inglehart :. "And you still blame 
me ? Remember I don't know what my 
mother 's been saying about me." 

Fairford : "Nothing that doesn't 
make you dearer to me. I think she 
was too hard upon you for a harmless 
joke like that." 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Oh, Jim, how 
sweet you are ! Do you really mean 
it?" 

Fairford : " I wish you would let 
me prove it. I wish you could let me 
employ my life in proving it." 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Oh, you know I 
always trusted you. You 're truth it- 
self ! " 

[86] 



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Fairford : " And I always trusted 
you, though " — 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Though I 'm not 
truth itself." 

Fairford : " Something like that." 
Mrs. Inglehart : " How delicious ! 
You know I always did think your candor 
was delicious." She puts up her hands 
to the back of her head, and tries to 
look round at the top of her chair. " I 
seem to be caught " — 

Fairford : " Can I help you ? " 
Mrs. Inglehart : " Oh, no." But he 
comes to her and frees the knot of her 
hair from a loose fibre of the cane which 
has caught it. " Thank you so much, 
James." He does not go away, and he 
does not relinquish the hand she had 
put up to help free her hair. He sits 
[87] 



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down on the arm of her chair, and scru- 
tinizes her left-hand fingers critically. 

Mrs. Inglehart : " WeU ? " 

Fairford : "I thought I could n't be 
mistaken in the size. May I try it 
on?" 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Why, if you 've 
taken all the trouble to bring it " — 

Fairford : " I ventured to do it." 

Mrs. Inglehart^ looking fondly up 
into his eyes while he fits the ring on 
her finger : "It was no great risk." 

Fairford: "Does it hurt? Is it too 
tight?" 

3Irs. Inglehart : " It is too tight, but 
it does n't — hurt ! " A sound of quick 
footfalls and rustling skirts makes itself 
heard within the drawing-room. Mrs. 
Inglehart jumps to her feet. " Oh, 
[88] 



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good gracious ! There 's that detest- 
able girl ! I forgot all about her again ! 
Run, Jim ! Or no, it 's too late now. 
Stay ! " The sound of the quick foot- 
falls and the rustling skirts within grows 
vaguer. " Yes, go now. She 's exe- 
cuting a little manoeuvre. She's seen 
us, but she 's pretending she did n't, and 
she 's gone back to give us time before 
she comes out through the hall door. 
That 's all right. Run along now, dear, 
and leave me to manage with her. I 
don't think she '11 get anything out of 
me that I don't want her to know. Why 
don't you go, James ? Oh ! Goose ! " 
She puts her arms round his neck, as he 
bends over her, and kisses him, and 
then pushes him decisively away. As 
he disappears round the corner of the 
[89] 



An Indian Giver 



veranda, she calls : " Miss Lawrence ! 
Eoberta! Is that you?" 

Miss Lawrence^ within : " I am look- 
ing for a handkerchief I left — Oh, 
here it is ! " She appears at the door, 
and looks out. " I thought Mr. Fair- 
ford"— 

Mrs. Inglehart: "He was here a 
moment ago, but he 's gone to his room 
— I suppose to his room. I 've been so 
much interested in your psychological 
experience, Roberta." 

Miss Lawrence : " Then he 's told ! 
I might have expected it." 

Mrs, Inglehart : " You 'd have been 
disappointed if you had. Men need n't 
tell things. They 've merely to say they 
won't, and then women are inspired with 
the facts. I guessed what had happened 
[90] 



An Indian Giver 



as soon as I saw the kind of trouble he 
was in, and I envied you the opportu- 
nity you had of — rattling him. Do 
tell me just how you did it." 

Miss Lawrence : " Do you think that 
will be necessary ? " 

Mrs, Inglehart : " No, I don't know 
that I do. And I admire you for your 
reticence. I supposed frankness was 
your strong point." 

Miss Lawrence : " Is n't that always 
a forlorn hope with us ? The pose of 
utter despair ? The last resort ? " 

Mrs. Lnglehart : " Perhaps it is. I 
was just going to try it with you. There 
seems nothing else for it." 

Miss Lawrence : " Ah, you pique 
my curiosity. What is it you could be 
frank about ? I mean " — 
[91] 



An Indian Giver 



Mrs. Inglehart : " I see what you 
mean. But you remember that a little 
while ago, here, I gave you James Fair- 
ford?" 

Miss Lawrence : " Yes ; and ' the 
gods themselves cannot resume their 
gifts.' " 

Mrs. Inglehart : " I don't know about 
the gods, but I 'm sure the goddesses 
could. My dear Roberta, I want him 
back. I must have him. Come, now, 
be very, very nice, and let me have 
him again ! Won't you ? I know that 
legally, and everything else, he belongs 
to you, and I suppose that in a court 
of justice I should n't have the slight- 
est chance. But I throw myself on 
your mercy. See ! " She comes over 
to where the girl has seated herself, 
[92] 



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and drops on her knees before her. 
" Let me have him, dear ! I 'd no 
idea I cared anything about him till 
I 'd parted with him. Come ! Say the 
word ! " 

3Iiss Lawrence : " And I, what 
am I to do with the wealth of affection 
that I had prepared to lavish upon 
him?" 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Oh, give it to 
somebody else ! Jim won't mind." 

Miss Lawrence : " Ah, that 's just 
what I 'm not so sure about ! I 've an 
idea that he is madly devoted to me. 
In fact, I can't give him up till I know 
from his own lips that he wishes to be 
given up. Yes, he must renounce 
me" — 

Mrs. Inglehart : " Oh, but I assure 
[93] 



An Indian Giver 



you lie does n't care anything about 
you"- 

Miss Lawrence : " That I must know 
from himself. I insist upon his choos- 
ing between us ! " 

Mrs. Inglehart^ rising : " Do you 
really mean it ? " 

Miss Lawrence : " Yes ; I think it 
would be fun." 

Mrs. Inglehart^ with genuine feeling : 
" I can't say it 's my idea of a joke. 
Well, then, it may be very inhospitable, 
and all that, and I wish it could have 
come about a little more gracefully, but 
I have to tell you — Oh, have you 
hurt yourself ? " She takes note of the 
handkerchief which Miss Lawrence has 
wrapped around her left hand ; the girl 
puts the hand behind her. " Can't I 
[94] 



An Indian Giver 



give you something ? Arnica ? Pond's 
extract? How did you do it? Put- 
ting up the window f " 

Miss Lawrence, in embarrassment: 
"No, no" — 

Mrs. Inglehart, dryly : " I 'm very 
sorry. Those window-catches are awk- 
ward things. I 've caught my fingers 
when I 've been thinking of something 
else." 

Miss Lawrence : " It was n't the 
window-catch, I assure you, Mrs. Ingle- 
hart, and I don't know how to tell 
you what it is, exactly. I thought it 
would be so simple; but — I ought 
never to have let you give me Mr. Fair- 
ford." 

Mrs, IngleTiart : " Oh, don't mind 
that. I 've taken him back again." 
[96] 



A71 hidian Giver 



Miss Lawrence : " Oh, tliat does n't 
make it right on my part. I meant to 
have told you before; but I couldn't 
get the chance ; and then it seemed to get 
more and more complicated, and " — 

Mrs, Inglehart, impatiently : '' Well? " 

Miss Lawrence : " Well ! " She puts 
out her left hand to Mrs. Inglehart, and 
covers her eyes with the handkerchief 
she has caught from it. 

Mrs, Inglehart, clutching it wildly: 
" An engagement ring ! " 

Miss Laicrence : " Yes, we were en- 
gaged last week, and when you began 
to speak to me, and I did n't know quite 
how — I had n't the courage " — 

Mrs. Inglehart, flinging Miss Law- 
rence's hand from her : " Then it was 
all a trick from the beginning ! And 
[96] 



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you let me make a fool of myself in that 
way, and all the time you were engaged ! 
And you said you never met him be- 
fore " — 

Miss Lawrence, in amaze : " How 
could I say such a thing ? We 've 
known each other for years." 

Mrs. Inglehart : " So it appears. 
And I don't know how you could say 
you 'd never seen him, but I know you 
did say it. Perhaps you 'd like two en- 
gagement rings. You may have mine " — 
She tries to get it off. 

Miss Lawrence : " What do you 
mean ? What are you doing ? Whom 
are you talking about ? " 

Mrs. Liglehart, still struggling vio- 
lently with the ring : " James Fairford. 
You may have both his rings " — 
[97] 



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Miss Lawrence : " James Fairf ord ! 
I don't want his rings — either of them. 
I 'm engaged to Arthur Wayland ! Do 
you think there 's only one man in the 
world?" 

Mrs. Inglehart^ after a moment's 
daze : " Then you — you — I see — 
yes ! Oh, you dear ! Oh, I 'm so happy 
for you!" She falls upon Miss Law- 
rence's neck and clasps her to her heart. 
" Arthur Wayland ? He 's charming, 
and he 's a very lucky fellow, but he 
deserves you if any one does. Ah, ha, 
ha ! Oh, hu, hu, hu: ! " Mrs. Wenham 
appears at one corner of the veranda, 
and Fairf ord at the other, from differ- 
ent sides of the house. 
[98] 



An Indian Giver 



XI 

MRS. WENHAM, FAIRFOKD, MISS LAWRENCE, 
MRS. INGLEHART 

Mrs. Wenham, sternly : " What is the 
matter, Lillian?" 

Mrs. Inglehart, between tears and 
laughter : " Nothing, nothing ! Ko- 
berta is engaged, and I 'm merely con- 
gratulating her." 

[99] 

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